Gov't must be
business friendly

Bacolod Mayor Bing Leonardia said he will endorse to the city council the takeover of the Bredco port following the endorsement by the negotiating panel to take over Bredco operation.

Actually the Mayor can do it alone with his executive power. But, it is better that the city council also has a part in it. If this will succeed, they all will get the credit. But, if it fails, they also will all get the blame.

Some people have a word for it: one for all and all for one. Or does this, too, need to be debated upon?

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Listening to the arguments of both Dr. Roger Balo, spokesman of the negotiating panel for the city and lawyer Roseller "Jack" Maalat, spokesman of the negotiating panel for Bredco, I believe that there should be a renegotiation.

Both sides were in an adversarial positions.

Both Balo and Maalat presented valid arguments. The city to charge P17.5 million a year rental of the port and Bredco offering to pay P1.4 million only.

The third person in the interview whom we invited, Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce president here, businessman James Chua took the middle ground.

He asked for a renegotiation. But he also gave his own computation based on a ten percent increase compounded annually for ten years. In his computation Bredco is supposed to pay a little more than P2 million a year, Chua said.

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That is why there is a need for a renegotiation. But, I believe personally there must be a third party, no less than three persons who have built integrity, incorruptibility and credibility all these years.

The private panel must be acceptable to both the city and Bredco and have the confidence of both parties, I am afraid not many will be willing to join it.

And the negotiation should be open to the public and media. This will protect all, the politicians and Bredco itself.

If the city stonewalls and charging higher, it is very understandable. Public officials cannot enter into an agreement disadvantageous to the government. If they do, they can be subject to anti-graft charges in addition to the attacks by media.

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If, for example, the Mayor and the negotiating panel agreed to P1.4 million payment, people will ask, "How much did the Mayor get? How much was the share of the Councilors? And how about the members of the negotiating panel?"

Even if they did not receive anything, the charge repeated and repeated all over again, even with the strongest denial, people will still believe the rumors. The only official who can save himself is the vice-mayor because he is the lawyer of Bredco and he gets his pay direct.

But the rest? Oh, the charge will destroy them.

I recall in 1961 or thereabouts. Bredco was just beginning and the city officials were very eager to have a port. But, when the application of Sammy Palanca was approved and work started, word spread that the officials, mayor and councilors were given a Rolex watch.

And it was a big issue already, the issue of Rolex watch in the 1963 election. Ask Toti Ramos. They lost in that election.

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Figure out, just receiving a Rolex watch already cost some political fortune at that time. I don't know if this was true or not. But people believed that the city officials as charged during the election received Rolex watch.

If the panel did not stand pat on the P17.5 million, what a deluge of rumors would have flown around. Even if there was no bribe.

That is why transparency is very necessary. I recall at that time, I wrote what is a Rolex watch if only we can have a port?

Before Bredco was conceived and implemented, our comment in media always was that Cebu and Iloilo were progressing fast because they had good ports. Bacolod did not have. It was always a transshipment through Iloilo and goods increased the cost. So, when Bredco opened, I thought this was now the answer to decades of complaints. That is why I have always been supportive of Sammy Palanca.

I learned yesterday he had his birthday last Sunday.

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And I wrote Bredco will not just hand over the port without a fight in court. Palanca asked, who owns the port?

This is where the problems will come if there is no renegotiation and the city pursues its plan of taking over. In the legal battle, I don't know if this can be decided in ten years, with both sides appealing when it loses.

And there is the risk as there are always risks in a court battle. You can win or, after spending money and time, you can still lose. In a court battle, Bredco will find itself like a duck thrown into the water. It sues for time.

But this also will have problems. During the legal battle will port services be not adversely affected? If Bredco refuses to put in more money port services might be affected.

The problem here, I feel, is reconciling the stand of both the city and Bredco.

What I got from the discussion over Feedback was the city stands on legal ground while Bredco stands on economic ground. Legal and economic issues are not contrary. They are complementary to each other.

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I am not comfortable when government, in this case the city, and business or Bredco take adversarial positions.

Government must help business grow. It must not stifle that growth. It's business investors who create wealth. They are the wealth creators, the engine that makes the economy run. The employment it makes provides income that provides buying power.

We have MassKara and Pana-ad that generate business. The city, much as it wants to, is not hard on sidewalk vendors or pedicab drivers because they make a living. There is business.

I am not saying the government must be soft on them. I just ask they follow the law.

We need taxes. But, there are instances when government gives amnesty to taxpayers to spur economic growth. Or in the U.S. sometimes they lower tax rates to reinvigorate business.

I hope the conflicts between the city and Bredco can be reconciled. And Bacolod be friendly to business. We need investors to come here.

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Correction in my column yesterday. Ms Anna Balcells did not mention the word "communists" in her text to me. I mistakenly got from another texter who refused to be identified. Sorry, Anna.*

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